...Mexico -- thought to be source of outbreak -- reports leveling off of ...FRIDAY May 1 (HealthDay News) -- The number of confirmed swine flu ca...In response to the outbreak scientists are racing to produce a vaccin... We think 600 million doses is achievable in a six-month time frame f...

Mexico -- thought to be source of outbreak -- reports leveling off of cases

FRIDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has now reached 141, federal health officials reported on Friday.

In response to the outbreak, scientists are racing to produce a vaccine for all Americans against the never-before-seen flu strain, but the shots -- if needed at all -- wouldn't be available until fall at the earliest, federal health officials said.

Meanwhile, the news out of Mexico -- believed to be the source of the outbreak -- offered some hope late Thursday as Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said the number of new swine flu cases seemed to be leveling off.

"The fact that we have a stabilization in the daily numbers, even a drop, makes us optimistic," Cordova said at a news conference. "Because what we'd expect is geometric or exponential growth. And that hasn't been the situation."

Still, Mexico braced for a shutdown of all non-essential services through Tuesday as authorities sought to limit further infections in that country, where the virus is suspected of causing 168 deaths so far.

In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday updated its online swine flu statistics to report a total of 141 cases across 19 states.

There are 50 confirmed cases in New York, 28 in Texas, 13 in California, 16 in South Carolina, 5 in New Jersey, 4 each in Arizona and Delaware, 3 each in Illinois and Indiana, two each in Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia, and a case each in Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, and Ohio.

On Monday, a 23-month-old Mexican boy who had traveled to Houston for medical treatment died, becoming the first -- and so far, only -- fatality in the United States.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, CDC acting director Dr. Richard Besser said that while most cases appear to be mild, "six of the cases have been hospitalized, including the unfortunate case we reported yesterday of the child in Texas who passed away."

The flu strain is a combination of pig, bird and human viruses, prompting worries from health officials that humans may have no natural immunity to the pathogen.

Besser said federal health officials "continue to be very aggressive in our approach and we will continue to do that until the situation tells us that we no longer need to do so. There's no one action that is going to stop this. There is no silver bullet, but all the efforts -- the efforts of government, the efforts of communities and the efforts of individuals -- will help to reduce the impact on people's health."

"There are things people can do," he said, including "handwashing, covering coughs, staying at home when they are sick.

The vaccine plan is to complete the production of seasonal flu vaccine for next winter and then switch to production of a vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu, if needed, Besser said.

All of the cases diagnosed in the United States continue to be mild, federal health officials said Thursday.

The swine flu outbreak has even touched the White House -- an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu apparently got sick while helping arrange President Barack Obama's recent trip to Mexico. The aide did not fly on Air Force One, however, and never posed a risk to the president, the Associated Press reported.

On Wednesday, Obama said that U.S. public health officials were recommending that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu "should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible."

Nearly 300 schools have been closed nationwide in response to the outbreak, according to news reports.

Texas has postponed all public high school sports and academic competitions at least until May 11 due to the outbreak.

On Thursday, Fort Worth, Texas, announced the temporarily closure of all district schools for its approximately 80,000 students, probably until May 12, after one student was found to be infected with swine flu and three others were suspected of suffering from the virus.

As with the previously tested strains of the swine flu virus, new testing has found that the pathogen remains susceptible to the two common antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, according to an April 28 dispatch from the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised the swine flu epidemic level from 4 to 5, signifying that a pandemic is imminent, and urged countries to implement their pandemic plans. And on Thursday, WHO said it would cease calling the virus "swine flu," using instead its scientific name -- H1N1 influenza A -- to help reduce confusion over the danger posed by pigs. Pork consumption does not transmit infection.

Switzerland and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to report swine flu infections. In addition to Mexico and the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria also have confirmed cases, AP reported.

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